Interview with the Artist of the Week: Andrew Stone

Andrew Stone is more than a triple threat! He’s been on TV shows, done theater, been a DJ, and now he’s a solo artist! He’s from the UK so we were very excited to have the chance to talk to him over the phone about his past projects and what is next to come. To see his full feature click here.

What was it like to be on ‘Big Brother’?

“It was intense. We were in the house for 24 hours, but the public only gets to see an hour of that. It was tough, but I enjoyed the experience. The shows format is a genius idea. It has been on for ten years in the UK. I became famous due to the show, because I left early and a lot of people thought that I was really entertaining. The reason I left early was because I wasn’t afraid to show my personality. The people who created the show were very sad I left, they loved me and thought I was great. They even booked me a whole year before I was on the show. Now people vote who to save instead of who to evict, they changed it after ten years. So my year was a bit confusing for everyone. It was all different. They may even change it back to you vote who to evict next year.”

Have you seen the US version?

“I haven’t actually, but I would love to.”

How did you get involved with music?

“It’s in my blood. My dad sang even though he was never on the stage, and his dad could play the piano without any lessons. When I was younger (about three years of age) my mum saw me dancing around and told me I had talent. Music and dance are like the same thing for me. Music is a universal language that everyone can relate to.”

You are extremely multi-talented. Do you prefer doing dance, theater or music?

“I love it all! Someone once asked me to choose between dance and music and I said “I’d probably go insane and end up in the hospital if I had to choose”. I do love music though. There are no rules about great music. All the songs I do are like babies to me. They are very special. I am very analytical with my songs, because I know that not everything I do is amazing. I am tough on myself and have to let go of songs sometimes. I love the open-mind set you have to have when you write songs, and the journey writing takes you on.”

Did being a DJ influence the type of music you wanted to make?

“Ya. I’m a dancer so I love dance music. I love watching other people enjoy themselves while they dance as well. I love Chris Brown and Rhianna’s stuff. There’s some heavy tunes out there at the moment. Rhianna’s “We Found Love” with Calvin Harris is such a great song! It always gets people up and dancing. I think “We Found Love” is brilliant lyrically. I hope my stuff is similar and people can relate to it.”

Do you plan on touring in the US?

“Definitely. I love America and I’m not just saying that. I was there in 2004 for two weeks, and met Alicia Keys’ manager. I loved it and the energy. You guys are so positive and believe in yourselves and others. I got the phrase “triple threat” from America. I was influenced by my time in America. Americans understand me better than the British!”

Will you tell us about the Pineapple Dance Studios?

“Louie Spence and I became break out stars from that show. We were very entertaining on camera. The Pineapple Dance Studios was a documentary. It was a true story that had dance sequences. They followed me with my then band called Starman. For years they had been trying to do a documentary about Pineapple because it’s quite famous. Louie and Debbie Moore kept saying no, because they didn’t want to portray in a negative way. Eventually Louie and Debbie said yes. The show came out and dominated. It did very well. It got bought by 12 countries in the world! I have fans in Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, etc because of it. It was made on Sky, and what’s quite nice is that Sky tends to keep repeating Pineapple (even now!). So even if I don’t work for a year, people can still see repeats of it on Sky. At the time it premiered there was nothing else like Pineapple Dance Studios. You can go on YouTube to see segments of it!”

What do you think of social networks?

“I think it’s fantastic. I think the guy who created Twitter is worth about 600 billion at least. It’s a brillant idea. I’m more of a tweeter than a facebooker. My twitter is @AndrewStoneUK. I’m a fan. I love that there’s a way for fans to get a hold of me. In this day and age you need a story or TV show to have a record deal. You can’t just walk in a get a record deal anymore. The industry has gone digital. Social networks are all about awareness and marketing, so on that level it can help the music industry get back on its feet.”

What are your favorite TV shows to watch?

“I love ‘Family Guy’ and Stewie! I’m working on my Brian accent. I think it’s all shades of wrong. That shows you a little insight into my psyche. When I get drunk some nights I’ll go onto the internet and watch ‘Family Guy’. My favorite movie right now is “The Avengers”. Thought it was absolutely brilliant. I also like to watch E! I call it shallow TV, but I love it. It’s great.”